The purposes of this critical ethnographic study are to discover and describe the processes of identifying health problems, health care resources, health-seeking behaviors, and health care transitions from the viewpoint of elderly rural Hispanic persons. The specific aims of the study are to: 1) describe health care experiences, transitions and health problems from the viewpoint of a selected population of elderly rural Hispanic persons; 2) describe the specific health-seeking behaviors of that population; 3) critically analyze health care resources, policies, and practices for inadequacies in that population grounded in their perspective; and 4) contribute insights beneficial to and complementary to the rural health transitions investigation being conducted by Magilvy and Congdon (1993) The conceptual framework, critical society theory, is focused on populations deprived of resources, assets, or advantages relative to the dominant culture. A critical ethnographic research design will be employed to engage the participants and the investigator in culturally sensitive communicative interaction. The purpose of the interaction is to elicit rich ethnographic description suitable for generating theory on transcultural health care experiences. Data acquisition and reduction will occur through semistructured interviews, observations, photographs, ongoing constant comparative analysis, and matrix analysis. The matrix analysis will aid in the systematic organization of data, according to a set of decision rules designed to answer emergent questions in the reflective critique. Maximum variation sampling will enable saturation of categories in a myriad of contextual domains. It is anticipated that 15 to 25 elderly rural Hispanic persons will take part in the study. A competent interpreter , possibly a member of the University of Colorado School of Nursing faculty, will be utilized when needed to minimize the possibility of a language barrier between the investigator and the participants. Rural Hispanic elders constitute an understudied population, especially with regard to home health care agencies and regional health department offices. This study of health care experiences, health-seeking behaviors, and social implications of/for them will enrich nursing knowledge, promoting holistic, culturally sensitive care.